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Competition Image Critiques

Competition Image Critique Thread

I'm starting this thread as a complementary thread to one of the same name posted on The Loop for those Loop members who have not used the Our PPA Forum before to have a starting reference point here on the Forum. Our veteran Forum members already know how to use the Competition Section of the Foum...

it's being started here to provide a place for those who would like to get critiques on their images with the intention of possibly using them for competition - but may have been hesitant to ask...

For those who are not aware of it, entries are now being accepted for the PPA International Photographic Competition (IPC). Entry opened on April 15, and they will be accepting images for the IPC until the deadline of June 28. The actual judging will take place from July 28- August 1, 2013 at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, GA.

If you have all of your entries finalized and ready to send in - Congratulations and Good Luck ! If you're like most of us, you're still kicking around a few images trying to decide which ones to enter and what changes you can make to them in order to give yourself a better chance of getting them all accepted or to get them to go Loan.

"The Our PPA Forum" and the "The Loop" are two great places where you can post your images and get your fellow members to give you some constructive criticism on how to improve your chances. You can never really judge your own stuff - the maker is always waaaaay to close to an image to be able to objectively critique it yourself - so why not get some additional sets of eyes looking at them.

Post your images here or in the "Print Competition Critique" thread of the "The Loop" and get some feedback and some honest and unbiased opinions from some knowledgeable individuals. So put on your thick skin and post your possible competition images here.

This thread will be a valuable asset for everyone, even those who are not planning to enter. When you start looking critically at images with a "for possible competition" point of view, you start seeing things in the image that were not readily apparent before - and this thread will give the makers the opportunity to possibly correct those issues before sending them to the IPC.

This thread is a place for BRUTAL HONESTY - since that is the only way that you can help your fellow members.
If you see something in a print that you think is bad and may keep it from being accepted at the IPC - SAY IT !
If you see something that you believe will help an image's chances if it is fixed - SAY IT !
If you see something that is great in an image and feel that more emphasis on that aspect will help the image to score better - SAY IT !
If you're totally blown away by an image and think that it is perfect just as it is and wouldn't change a thing - SAY IT !
Your honest observations or comments may help your fellow member to put an image into the International Exhibit instead of having it returned to them with that dreaded "Non-Accepted" mark on it.

REMEMBER - at the IPC, there are no limit to the number or percentage of images that will Merit. We are not competing against each other - we're competing only against a STANDARD of Excellence - and OURSELVES.

So come on everyone - put on your big boy pants and step up! Post your "IPC possibles" here, and let's see if we can help each other to decide if they are definite yes's, definite no's or how to fix your "maybes" - and I"ll guarantee that we'll all learn and grow in the process.

This thread on The Forum - and the same section on the "The Loop" - is a place for those who really want to improve their images with the intention of possible competition use. I know that there are some out there who are adamantly anti-competition, and, in my personal opinion, that is your loss. If you are adamantly opposed to competition, I ask you to PLEASE keep your anti-competition thread hijacks off this thread. This thread is for those who really want to learn and improve - they need a place to get honest feedback from like minded members, and do not need the distraction of being told that they should not participate. Thank You.

NOW - LET THE CRITIQUING BEGIN !!!

OK - I'll start it off by posting an image that I'm considering for this year's IPC. It received a seal of approval at SWPPA, so it's an automatic merit at the IPC, but I feel like this image could be stronger and might have a shot at going Loan - with a few changes - so I'm thinking about busting the seal, making a few changes and resending it in again as an unsealed image? Comments? Critiques? Rip it Apart - Please !!! Help me put this one in the Loan Book !

Re: Competition Image Critiques

Rick, Your image demonstrates excellent lighting and doesn't deserve being ripped from my point of view In admiring the print, my eyes kept returning to the swirl highlights in the background. I do like that the background has some detail in the blacks and isn't completely black. If this was my print, I would tone down the swirls down just a little bit. That is just a small concern. Mostly importantly, I questioned the title that you might use.

Re: Competition Image Critiques

Hi all,
Wanted to get some info on this image. I'm up for brutal honesty, and so if you say trash it, the image will be trashed. My 2 concerns are, 1. The image itself-and 2. The crop-I'm not sure I'm happy with cropping into the hands, but the hands do support the tribute card.
I've got a larger image, that I cropped this from so can open it.

Title of Image-In Loving Tribute
The subject in this image, is the tribute card-so I tried to draw attention to it by cropping in close and placing it into rule of thirds. I'm hoping that next, your eye moves up into the frame and directly into her closed eyes with the tear peaking out to support the overall feel of the image.

Re: Competition Image Critiques

Marie,
I'd suggest that you crop off more of the top of her head. Also crop off a bit more of her hands. Darken the booklet that she is holding - it's very bright and takes the attention away from her hands. See the quick example below...

Re: Competition Image Critiques

Since this is a thread for competition images, can we have an expectation that the critiques are coming from someone qualified to critique those? I'd hate for someone to take advice on a competition image from someone that may not be giving good advice.

Re: Competition Image Critiques

Mark,
just as it has always been, any forum member one can post a comment or a critique here - there's no limitation as to who may post comments here, but once we start getting some images posted here, I'll contact some of the people who have told me that they are willing to help and let them know that there are possible IPC images here with "for IPC competition" critiques requested. If they have the time, I'm sure that they will respond and help out. But remember, those people are volunteering their time, so you might not get a response immediately. It will be the makers decision as to whose comments they should seriously listen to. I'm sure you'll be able to easily figure that out. But then again, whomever they are, they are a second set of eyes, with a different perspective from your own - and sometimes, that's all that you need to point something out to you that you never saw before.

Last edited by Rick_Massarini; 04-22-2013 at 05:45 AM.

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